Lawrence Russell Brewer

Lawrence Russell Brewer (1967-21 September 2011) was a white supremacist who murdered James Byrd, Jr. on 7 June 1998 by dragging him on an asphalt road with his pickup truck for three miles until his head and right arm were severed upon hitting a culvert drain. Brewer was executed by lethal injection in response to the crime on 21 September 2011.

Biography
Lawrence Russell Brewer was born in 1967, and he was known for his acquired views on white supremacy while he was in prison. In 1991 he was paroled after serving jail time for drug possession and burglary, but in 1994 he violated his parole and returned to prison. While in prison, he joined John William King in a white supremacist prison gang to protect himself from other inmates, and the two became friends. On 7 June 1998, Brewer, King, and Shawn Allen Berry lynched African-American James Byrd, Jr. by dragging him behind a pickup truck for three miles until his head and right arm were severed upon hitting a drain. Brewer and the others were imprisoned, and because Brewer had no regrets about his crimes, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He ordered two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, a pound of barbecue, a large bowl of fried okra, a meat lover's pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed nuts in his last meal; however, he did not eat any of the meal, which was discarded, resulting in Texas ending the 87-year-tradition of giving special last meals to condemned inmates. On 21 September 2011 he was executed by lethal injection.